The Inspiration of Summer Festival continues in Germany
Guest Teacher Gen Kelsang Tonglam led a special Post-Festival Retreat at Tharpaland KMC, guiding participants on a profound and inspiring inner journey into the practice of Sutra and Tantra. He also gave a public talk at KMC Berlin, sharing heartfelt and practical wisdom on how to remain peaceful, relaxed, and happy amid the busyness of daily life.
Tharpaland Kadampa Meditation Center, Germany
Practicing the Union of Sutra & Tantra
How to Unify Compassion, Wisdom, Bliss & Daily life
During this special retreat on practicing the union of Sutra & Tantra in daily life, Gen Kelsang Tonglam guided us on a profound inner journey – from our ordinary way of seeing and perceiving ourselves and the world towards the pure view offered by Buddha's teachings on Tantra.
Through clear teachings, practical guidance, personal experience and deeply inspiring meditations, Gen Tonglam showed how practicing the union of Sutra and Tantra enables us to transform daily experiences into the path to enlightenment through meditation, visualization, and profound spiritual practice.
He clarified common misconceptions, emphasizing Tantra as an inner technology designed to purify mind, body, and environment through wisdom and compassion.
He guided practitioners through The Eleven Yogas of Vajrayogini. We trained to overcome ordinary appearances and conceptions by cultivating the "divine pride" and pure view of oneself and all beings as enlightened beings.
All explanations were based on the works of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. In the Q&A sessions, Gen Tonglam gave practical guidance addressing common obstacles to Tantric meditation and personal practice.
The retreat offered precious space to step away from everyday distractions, deepen our spiritual experience and gain a glimpse of the extraordinary potential within each of us. We left feeling refreshed, grateful, inspired and encouraged to carry this pure view into our daily lives.
Kadampa Meditation Center Berlin, Germany
How to protect yourself in the city
A Special Public Talk
The special public talk was met with a wonderful response, filling the Center with participants eager to be inspired. Drawing on personal experience and vivid analogies, Gen Kelsang Tonglam brought the profound wisdom of Buddha to life.
He introduced three protection shields—patience, wisdom, and exchanging self with others—showing how we can use them to remain completely relaxed amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life.
With warmth and clarity, Gen Tonglam offered a fresh and unconventional perspective on the stress and busyness of city life.
The teaching showed how stress arises not from our environment, but from how we respond to it—showing that this single shift in understanding allows us to perceive daily challenges as opportunities for greater inner peace, confidence, emotional stability and strength. His personal reflection that stress and worries are not inevitable was both deeply encouraging and reassuring.
If we practise patience when someone harms us we will have the clarity and calmness of mind to respond in a constructive way, without anger or self-pity.
Participants were delighted and most stayed after the talk to discuss the teachings with one another and to meet Gen Tonglam personally.
For anyone wishing to work skillfully with stress and busyness, the evening offered a meaningful opportunity to deepen their understanding of meditation and how it helps us develop a strong, compassionate and wise response to daily challenges. Thank you Gen Tonglam for giving such an uplifting, inspiring and practical talk.
